Press Releases

Washington D.C. – U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) released the following statement after H.R. 5036, the Financial Technology Protection Act, passed the House of Representatives:

“Yesterday, H.R. 5036, the Financial Technology Protection Act, passed the House of Representatives unanimously. With such a strong vote in support of my bill, Congress showed that it understands that illicit financing networks are the lynchpin of any terrorist group’s or criminal organization’s operations. As we move into an increasingly digital world, criminals and terrorists will start to use new technologies that are available to them.

“While my legislation accomplishes a number of goals to address this increasingly common problem, I especially think that the establishment of the ‘Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence Program’ is important. This new program will let academia and the private sector apply for grants to come up and experiment with ideas and programs to combat terrorist use of digital currencies. In my view, experts in the private sector can track illicit use of these currencies and perhaps do a better job of leveraging their talent to create tools and programs through the the program.

“I want to thank my colleague from Massachusetts and co-lead on the legislation , Rep. Stephen Lynch for his efforts. Congressman Lynch has experience and knowledge in this space which only made the bill better and I enjoyed working with him. I cannot thank him and his staff enough for their support on this.”